MAF is not seeing a last chance, because Vokoun is not at a stage of his career where he can be counted on to be leaned on as a starter for 3-4 years. Vokoun is a veteran who can fill in for a month (whether due to injury or performance) and still allow the Pens to look like a Cup contender in front of him.

Look, MAF was HORRIBLE in the Philly series this year and the Canadian series 2 years ago. HORRIBLE. If he plays only to his average, the Pens win both. Sure the defense was bad, but MAF was really, really bad.

So...............hopefully Vokoun can spell him some more games. Also, the fact that the Pens decided to address the goalie position for the first time in MAF's career, may hopefully help him mature.

I believe with a goalie of MAF's age, it is not the physical wear and tear of playing 60+ games and then the playoffs, but the mental wear and tear. The concentration wanes. I believe that what happens, if a guy like Fluery gets past the first two rounds, then the mental concentration will be there as the prize is right in front of him. Unlike say an older goalie like a Roloson who eventually runs out of gas.

So hopefully Vokoun plays 25-28 games and MAF is well rested. But also........hopefully MAF stops the stupid gymnastics routines during shoot outs and learns to be more responsible, because this is a good time to hone that concentration. No doubt he is one of the most gifted goalies in the league physically. But he has lapses that are just inexcusable at times.

owtahear wrote:Look, MAF was HORRIBLE in the Philly series this year and the Canadian series 2 years ago. HORRIBLE. If he plays only to his average, the Pens win both. Sure the defense was bad, but MAF was really, really bad.

So...............hopefully Vokoun can spell him some more games. Also, the fact that the Pens decided to address the goalie position for the first time in MAF's career, may hopefully help him mature.

I believe with a goalie of MAF's age, it is not the physical wear and tear of playing 60+ games and then the playoffs, but the mental wear and tear. The concentration wanes. I believe that what happens, if a guy like Fluery gets past the first two rounds, then the mental concentration will be there as the prize is right in front of him. Unlike say an older goalie like a Roloson who eventually runs out of gas.

So hopefully Vokoun plays 25-28 games and MAF is well rested. But also........hopefully MAF stops the stupid gymnastics routines during shoot outs and learns to be more responsible, because this is a good time to hone that concentration. No doubt he is one of the most gifted goalies in the league physically. But he has lapses that are just inexcusable at times.

What's he doing wrong in the shootouts? He is a pretty good record and save percentage in those.

MRandall25 wrote:I think he's referring to messing around in practice...

Not sure what that has to do with him playing poorly.

Most players use practice time to make themselves a better player. Watch an OHL practice sometime and see how hard the goalies get worked over. Despite the grueling nature of those practices, the ones who really want to be the best actually stay after and work on drills until they get kicked off by the people who work at the rink. Now compare that to the images of Fleury you see during practice. He could stand to take things a little more seriously. Maybe push himself some more. He shouldn't need the threat of Ty Conklin or T-Vo to bring out the best in his game.

You'd think with moustache guy contests, Flower would be ready for every breakaway the flyers had! That's coaching. Hands down pens gave the flyers game 1, no excuse for Flower. Or Evgeni(penalties), or Jordan(clang), or Sid.(couldn't lift the puck on Ilya) None of them escape blame. ? Maybe Neal.

Certainly not his last chance. He has won a Cup and taken his team to the finals twice in the past 5 seasons. Now, having said that, Fleury needs to be better in the post season. The signing of Vokoun was more than just getting a guy who can give him a rest. It was a little bit of a motivational kick in the butt, I think, because they will not hesitate to use Vokoun at any point if Fleury is struggling badly.

MRandall25 wrote:I think he's referring to messing around in practice...

Not sure what that has to do with him playing poorly.

Most players use practice time to make themselves a better player. Watch an OHL practice sometime and see how hard the goalies get worked over. Despite the grueling nature of those practices, the ones who really want to be the best actually stay after and work on drills until they get kicked off by the people who work at the rink. Now compare that to the images of Fleury you see during practice. He could stand to take things a little more seriously. Maybe push himself some more. He shouldn't need the threat of Ty Conklin or T-Vo to bring out the best in his game.

Seriously? You see, what, maybe one practice a month of the Penguins (the portion of which determines who grows a mustache for a month) and make conclusions off of that?

If he plays as bad as he did this playoff next playoff then by all means the Pens should dump him ASAP. I would dump him ASAP now personally. I have no faith in him anymore and will never again consider the Pens having any type of goaltender advantage in a playoff series until Fleury comes up with at least a decent playoff series.

AlexPKeaton wrote:If he plays as bad as he did this playoff next playoff then by all means the Pens should dump him ASAP. I would dump him ASAP now personally. I have no faith in him anymore and will never again consider the Pens having any type of goaltender advantage in a playoff series until Fleury comes up with at least a decent playoff series.

food for thought; Sid's last great play-off series was against the caps, 2009. ? maybe ottawa 2010. Collectively they(core) haven't been able to push themselves into championship - kill mode.

AlexPKeaton wrote:If he plays as bad as he did this playoff next playoff then by all means the Pens should dump him ASAP. I would dump him ASAP now personally. I have no faith in him anymore and will never again consider the Pens having any type of goaltender advantage in a playoff series until Fleury comes up with at least a decent playoff series.

food for thought; Sid's last great play-off series was against the caps, 2009. ? maybe ottawa 2010. Collectively they(core) haven't been able to push themselves into championship - kill mode.

Crosby had 19 points in 13 games in the 09-10 playoffs, missed the 10-11 playoffs, and had 8 points in 6 games in the 11-12 playoffs. Pretty far off from the worst in the league and worst all-time performances.

Great thread guys. Holy crap. Johnson sucked all year and was a guaranteed loss. MAF ended up overworked. The Pens forgot how to defend the power play and gave up two big leads in games they should have won. Fleury only gave up a couple of soft goals by my count. The defense in front of him was way more soft than his play by any measure. And drafting goalies in the middle rounds isn't exactly an indictment against your franchise goalie. The organization doesn't have many goalies. We almost had to draft a couple. Of the 30 starting goalies, who would seriously put MAF outside the top third?

There is no excuse for having the worst playoff series out of any goalie in the history of the sport. Everyone knows the team didnt play well but you can't just brush off his performance. Fleury is the most important player on the ice and he completely blew it. I'm tired of the overworked excuse.